Wood is an amazing material to work with. It is cheap, readily available and is capable of producing some of the most beautiful furniture. It can be hard then to understand why we often neglect to realize the potential of used or discarded wood we may have lying around the place. Here are a few great ideas that can give your used wood a new lease in life. And the next time, think twice before really throwing away or discarding used wood.
Bench
Perhaps it’s not the most exciting creation to make with recycled wood, but if you’re new to carpentry it sure is a good place to start. Remember that the bench height should be compatible with the length of your legs and the seat proper should be 17 to 18 inches deep, or about 43 to 46 centimeters. As for the width, you should figure 25 inches per person, or 63 centimeters, per person you want to fit on the bench.
Shoe Rack
You can use a section of a pallet of reclaimed wood as a base and add more solid wood to support the structure, if needed. You can design the shoe rack so it’s lying flat on the ground, add hooks to a standing shoe rack and hang it on the door of your wardrobe, or add wheels to the shoe rack so that you can move it around freely.
Table
Your table can come from ancient wood or from contemporary sources like a solid bedroom door. If you choose to use a door as your new table then you will need to remove any hardware from it, clean it, sand the door if necessary, and then apply primer to it. Once you have this done you will have a fresh canvass to work with. To finish it off, be as creative as you wish; sponge paint it, use stencils, or keep it simple and paint it in a solid color. Legs for the table can be bought at a furniture or hardware store.
Couch
A pallet of wood can create the perfect base for a sofa. Simply stack two pallets on top of each other and glue in place. If the basic structure is sturdy enough, add cushions as desired.
Wine Rack
Another project using a reclaimed pallet. A half pallet of wood will allow you to make one wine rack so cut one pallet into two pieces at the center of the side slot on each end. You can remove the two cross boards from the unused center section of the pallet to form an optional glass rack on the bottom. To finish off, add a coat of paint.